Congratulations! That messy business of writing your first draft manuscript is over. At last you can pour yourself a drink, put your feet up, and bask in the knowledge that there’s only one job left to do. Edit the damn thing.
“Why bother?” I hear you cry. “Writing is all about, well, writing. Right?”
Wrong. Of all the tasks a writer undertakes, editing is probably the most important. There are many reasons for this. Here are just ten of them.
I Edit Because …
- It’s the strop on which I sharpen my prose to a razor’s edge
- Someone’s got to clear up the godawful mess I made writing the first draft
- Less is more
- At last I get to correct all those embarrassing continuity errors
- After months spent obsessing about the trees, I’m finally able to see the forest
- I love to spend an entire morning sweating over a single word choice
- It brings clarity
- Every lump of raw clay needs a sculptor’s delicate touch
- It’s the only way to find out if this manuscript is any damn good!
- Writing is editing
Graham Edwards 